


Beautiful

by AleishaDreams



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Children Fluff, F/F, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 09:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4661379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AleishaDreams/pseuds/AleishaDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Boys are stupid.”</p><p>Her mother stops folding her dress midway, blinking twice at her, and then she cocks her head. “Stupid, you say? Does that mean your father is stupid too?”</p><p>Haku frowns at the question. Her father isn’t a boy, he is a father and an adult, completely different.</p><p>“No, he isn’t,” she replies nonetheless. “Only the ones I fight.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Changed Haru and Makoto's names so the "girly name"="manly name" continues.
> 
> Unbeta'd.

Blood travels down her knee, with a sting ache exploding from there and crossing her entire body. It’s a small scratch, but it’s just one of various marks along her small body. Her cheek is also in pain, she will probably have a bruise there in a few hours and her mother will nag at her because of it. The blue dress she’s wearing now has a torn in the hem, and it’s dirty with dust from the ground. To finish her look, her long and dark hair is a mess.

“I’m sorry, Haku-chan,” a sobbing voice tells her.

The blue eyes look at the other person, another girl crouching next to her: she has short, brown hair to her shoulders, green big eyes that right now are drowning in tears, and is wearing a soft yellow dress.

Her name is Masato, and it’s Haku’s best friend.

Haku wants to tell her she should stop crying, that it’s not her fault that boys are stupid, it’s not her fault boys want to bully Masato, and it’s not her fault that Haku will defend her. She did it back in kinder garden, and she does it now that they are 9 years old. She will always protect and defend Masato. Always.

But her words are shut down when Masato takes out a little green with white stars band-aid, and sticks it on Haku’s bleeding knee.

“You’re always protecting me, Haku-chan. I’m sorry,” Masato insists.

Haku just looks at her, how Masato’s green eyes are down casted to the floor, and it pisses her off.

“Stop apologizing,” Haku says. Masato simply nods. “Did they hurt you?”

This time, Masato shakes her head. “They only got to pull my hair a little before you arrived.”

She looks Masato thoroughly anyways, checking if there were any marks on her and the brunette were just lying to not make Haku worry, but it seems Masato is telling the truth. The only mark on her is the red blush on her cheeks because of the crying.

“Ah! Your hair is all ruined!” Masato comments, looking at her disheveled hair, “Let me just…”

Masato’s tiny hands start to try to placate Haku’s wild hair, her delicate fingers passing through the black threads to tear up the knots from the previous fight.

“Your hair is so pretty, Haku-chan.”

The dark-haired girl feels her face burning up immediately. Giving compliments it’s an easy task for Masato, and she’s always commenting on how pretty Haku is. If Haku had that same talent, she would tell Masato that she thinks her eyes are beautiful.

“It’s so sad that it always get like this because of the fights.”

Masato’s voice sounds regretful. This also pisses off Haku.

“Can you walk, Haku-chan?”

Haku nods and gulps. She isn’t completely sure she can walk as of now, but if she says that, Masato will worry even more. With a last gush of courage, Haku stands up, feeling her knees wobble for a moment because of the scratches.

“Your mom is going to be mad,” Masato says.

Haku shrugs, not really interested on what her mother might say about it. It’s all worthy if Masato is safe from stupid boys. And, in the end of things, Haku always wins the fights; so, why is it that scandalous that she gets into fights every now and then? Besides, she’s doing it to protect her best friend.

 

 

The two girls slowly walk towards Haku’s house – going upstairs it’s a miracle of its own – and are welcomed by Haku’s mother, whom immediately worries over her daughter.

“Haku! Did you fight with the boys again?!” the woman asks Haku, taking her by the shoulders with both hands.

“I—I’m sorry, Nanase-san!” Masato replies instead of Haku. “It was my fault! Haku-chan just—“

“Masato, I was asking Haku,” her mother tells Masato, making the young girl cower behind Haku. This pisses off Haku.

The adult woman keeps talking while she checks on Haku, telling her that she shouldn’t fight with boys, that one of these days she’s going to end up really hurt if she continues like this; but stops when the woman sees the green band-aid on her knee, looking at it with an open mouth. Her eyes travel to Masato for a brief second.

“Masato, I need to clean off Haku. Please, go back home, alright?”

Her voice sounds calmer, and Haku can feel Masato relaxing a little behind her. The brunette nods in silence before opening the door and going away.

Her mother stands up, carrying Haku in her arms, and walks to the bathroom. “Now,” she says, “Will you tell me what happened?”

Haku doesn’t reply at first, unsure if it’s the brightest move to confess she fights boys because they bully Masato.

“It’s not the first time you do this, Haku. You’ve been doing this since kinder garden.”

When they get to the bathroom, Haku is placed in the tub’s border and her mother turns on the faucet to fill it.

“Masato says it’s her fault. Is it her fault, Haku?”

Haku immediately shakes her head. Her mother hums, looking at her.

“Then what happened?” she asks as she starts to take off Haku’s dress.

“Boys are stupid.”

Her mother stops folding her dress midway, blinking twice at her, and then she cocks her head. “Stupid, you say? Does that mean your father is stupid too?”

Haku frowns at the question. Her father isn’t a boy, he is a father and an adult, completely different.

“No, he isn’t,” she replies nonetheless. “Only the ones I fight.”

The woman hums again, and pats Haku’s thigh to tell her to stand up, when she does, her mother pulls down her underwear.

“And why are they stupid?”

Haku sits down on a little chair when her mother points at it. The woman then turns on the hand shower, directing it to her back. The water is slightly cool, the way Haku likes it, and her burning skin – excited with adrenaline from the fight – feels relieved in a second.

Still, Haku doesn’t answer the question.

“Why does Masato say it’s her fault?” her mother asks instead. Haku balls up her fists.

“She’s too nice.”

“Yeah, she is.” The woman leaves the hand shower in the floor to pick up the bottle of shampoo, pouring a little on her hand to wash Haku’s hair. “And she is really pretty, isn’t her?”

Haku nods.

“I bet everyone wants to be her friend, right?”

Haku nods again.

“Even boys, right?”

Haku shakes her head. Her mother hums.

The little girl closes her blue eyes when she feels the bubbles on her hair go down her forehead. Her mother’s hands massage her sensitive scalp, sore from when one of the boys pulled her hair, but she just bites her lips and takes it.

“Boys don’t want to be her friends? How weird! What do boys do, then?”

Water falls over her head again, rinsing the shampoo from her hair. Haku opens her eyes again, and looks at the green band-aid on her knee.

“Boys are stupid,” she repeats.

“Only the boys you fight, right?”

Haku nods.

Her mother tells her to turn around, and she obeys. The woman has a sponge in a hand and, picking up one of Haku’s arms, she starts to scrub it. This repeats in her other arm, her face, her tummy, and her chest.

When her mother is about to peel off the green band-aid, Haku stops her putting her tiny hand over it. Her mother looks at her in silence, her lips slightly parted and her breath stops for a second.

“Do these stupid boys do stupid things to Masato?”

Haku nods. Her mother hums.

“Your hair is really pretty, Haku.”

Haku is a little confused by the change of topic, but she lets it pass anyways.

“Masato says that too,” Haku shares.

“I’m sure she does,” her mother smiles for the first time since Haku arrived. “But… don’t you think it would be better if we cut it?”

The woman takes one of her locks, curling it in her fingers absentmindedly without looking at Haku’s eyes. “We would cut it just like your father’s, would you like that?”

Her mother’s blue eyes turn to her again.

“Like that,” her mother continues, “It wouldn’t get in the way, right?”

Haku’s eyes widen, and she feels her lungs stopping working for a moment.

Haku nods.

 

 

“Haku-chan! Your hair!”

Masato’s eyes are big and starry, impressed by Haku’s new look. It’s the next day from the fight, and Masato has come to pick Haku up and go to school together as they usually do.

“Masato, good morning,” her mother voice sounds from behind Haku, and soon she feels a warm hand on her head. “Haku decided to cut it short. What do you think?”

“She looks pretty!” Masato responds with a big smile, and Haku’s face gets hot out of nowhere.

One of Haku’s worries was that Masato would be sad about her hair, with the brunette telling her all the time how pretty her hair is, but hearing her friend this happy calms her down.

“She does, right?” her mother says with a chuckle. “Now, you better hurry up, girls.”

“Yes! See you later, Nanase-san!”

Both girls walk off. Haku looks back one last time to her mother, who is smiling and waving her hand at them.

Haku waves back.

 

 

“Haku-chan.”

She blinks once when she hears her name being called.

Haku is sitting, so she looks down to her companion, meeting a woman of green, big eyes smiling at her.

Masato is next to her, with her stomach facing down the bed, letting her naked, toned back bath under the sun entering through Haku’s bedroom’s window, still gleaming with sweat from their previous activity. The bed sheet is only partially guarding the rest of Masato’s body, her butt barely covered.  The brunette, long hair is spread on Masato’s shoulders except for one lock that is being played with by Haku’s fingers, curling it.

“What is it?” Haku asks her lover.

“Nothing,” Masato says, and chuckles when Haku frowns. “Really, nothing. I just like saying your name.”

Haku’s heart beats faster.

“You’re so pretty, Haku-chan.”

Masato closes her eyes, smiling at her with that bright beam that illuminates Haku’s chest with warm love.

“Short hair really suits you,” Masato continues. “Also…”

The brunette stops talking, and Haku can see the red color spreading on her cheeks like it did when they were making love.

“It makes me think… no, forget it. It’s silly.” Masato hides her face between her arms.

Haku pulls the lock of hair in her fingers just a little, pushing Masato to keep speaking.

Timid green eyes look at her again.

“Did you… did you cut your hair to fight better against the boys? When we were little?” Masato finally asks.

Haku wants to look away to prevent Masato of discovering the red blush on her cheeks now, but wills herself otherwise. She doesn’t have to answer with words, because soon Masato’s eyes soften with a loving light in them, and a gentle smile curves her rosy lips.

“You are so beautiful, Haku-chan.”

Giving compliments it’s an easy task for Masato, if Haku had that same talent, she would tell Masato that she thinks she’s even more beautiful.

But right now her words are stuck in her throat, so she decides the better next thing to do is to kiss Masato on her lips.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I think Makoto as a girl would be bullied all the time by stupid boys who have a crush on her, so it's Haru's duty to protect her!
> 
> I've had this idea since forever, and I've talked about it in my twitter before, but I decided to write a little fluff for it!
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!!
> 
> You can also find me on my tumblr [AleishaDreams](http:www.aleishadreams.tumblr.com) and my twitter [ActualAleisha](http:www.twitter.com/actualaleisha)


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